Disk harrow.



C. S. SHARP.

DISK HARROW.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.16. 1915.

1 347,0 1 7. Patented Nov. 20 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET I C. S. SHARP.

DISK HARROW.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.16. 1915.

1 ,247,0 1 '7 Patented Nov. 20, 1917 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

w x J7 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

cHAELEs s. smmr; or AUBURN, NEw YORK, AssmNon '10 INTERNATIONAL HA3.- vEsrEn CQMPANY on NEW annsnv, A. oonrona'rron on NEW :rEnsEY.

' DISK HARBOW.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Application filed January 16, 1915. Serial No. 2,589.

- To all whom it may concern:

and improve the construction and operation of such devices. Y

Heretofore the front and rear units in tandem harrows have been connected by a single central pivot and thus allowed absolutely free and independent, lateral move ment, failing thereby to properly trail; on?

they have been connected b permanent rlgid frame members which, 0 course, are disadvantageous in. turning corners. Thev demand is for a tandem disk harrow wherein the front and rear units shall be connected with some degree of rigidity as they advance over the field in operation in order to overcome lateral shifting and consequent dis-v alinement; but for turning corners this connection must be free to move in order to permit the units to flex.

I have accomplished this desirable result by means of the provision of connecting elements so arranged that the rear section of the harrow will be held and maintained in the line of advance, and in turning corners will move to pos1t1on where the rear unit will travel in an arc of a circle, thereby avoiding ditching out of the ground. I have provided also means to receive the down thrust of the rear frame and relieve all strains from the pivotal connection.

It has been customary also in harrows of this class to arrange the units in cruciform relation, with the sections of the rear unit having central pivot points in transverse alinement. This cruciform arrangement is open to the objection that the inner disks of the rear gangs are brought to a common point, leaving a space between the cutting.

edges which will be untilled, and in many cases it is necessary to attach between these spaced cutting edges a cultivator tooth or similar member to stir that portion of the soil which is otherwise untouched. The central pivot for the disk gangs makes for instability, and a rocking tendency is encountered in the rear sections which in practice permits a downward dip of the inner ends 1 due to thesuction. Special anti-tilting devices have been found necessary in such constructions to overcome the rocking. In my construction the inner ends of the inthrow gangs may be overlapped and thereby no uncultivated soil will be left. I also arrange the pivots for the gang members near theirends and thereby the rocking tendency is overcome and the necessity for anti-tilting devices is dispensed with.

The angle of the gangs of each unit thing which is seldom changed in practical operation; in fact, it is diflicult in many harrows to discover the angular adjustment at which the gangs will draw straight. When this is once found it should notbe changed. Adjusting levers for this purpose have been provided heretofore which adjusted the gangs in pairs, -but, obviously, these levers are used so infrequently as to be advantageously dispensed with. I have providedsimple means for adjusting the angles of the gangs separately and by hand, and am thereby enabled to obtain a better and Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

isa

finer adjustment and to economize in the con struction of the barrow. In order to minimize the necessity for at any time changing the angles of the. gangs and thereby destroying their working-arrangement, I. have provided transport wheels capable of carrying the entire harrow in an elevated position and adjustable to serve also as gage wheels,

or to be moved to inoperative position through control levers arranged within con venient reach of the operator.

One form of my invention is exemplified in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows'a plan view of a tandem disk harrow embodylng my invention;

Fig. 2 shows a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1';

- Fig. 3 shows a diagram of the front and ings, there is shown a" front main frame 10 and a rear main frame 11, each substantially rectangular in form. These frames are preferably constructed of angle bars, the front one being provided at its rear end 100' 'rearframes and the connecting elements therefor.

Referring now in detail to these draw with transverse spaced members 13, and the rear one having longitudinally arranged single central pivotal connectionused in ing a disk gang 18, comprlsing a frame 18, v Y and a transverse shaft 18, upon which are fitted outthrow disks 18. Mounted upon the disk shaft 18", at the end opposite the ivot point, is a bail member 19 extending forwardly and received within a keeper 20 mounted upon a link 21, which link has a pivotal connection, with the disk frame 18 and an adjustable connection with the front main frame, controlled by the cam nut 22. The rear disk frame carries also bearing boxes 23 between the spaced bars l-fand 15, and Within these boxes are received the, f

are thus borne by these extensions, and the pivot members 2d of the rear disk gangs 25, said gangs including inthrow disks 26.; "Bail members 27 and links 27, similar to the members 19 and links 21, are used to conadjustably to the rear frame. Brace bars. 28 have been provided between each of the pivot members 1? and 24 and adjacent frame. It should be noted in this connedtion that the pivot members 2d of the rear harrow frame are arranged one in advance with their inner ends overlapping and main-.

line of draft, thereby preventing side draft on the part of the rear frame.

For connecting the two frames together I employ diagonal links 29 crossed near their. middles and pivoted at their front ends on the pivot members 17 and at their rear ends one on the pivot member 24 and the other on a special pivot 30 between the spaced bars 14 in advance of the adjacent gang pivot 24. With this form of flexible connection for the frames the twoparts are held in semi-rigid relation during the ad Vance of the machine in a straight line. Should any obstruction hit one of the gangs in a manner to turn the frame thereof, it will be found that the cross links 29 will serve to oppose the turning and will permit movement only upon condition that the other frame takes a turn in an opposite direction that is to say, a force tending to throw the. front frame rearwardly at the right side will move the rear frame rearwardly at the opposite side, placing the two frames in an un-v natural position where they will not long remain under the force of the draft. In this way the two frames are held to agreat extent in exact alinement, no freedom of movementon the part'of one being permitted. The advantage of this over the barrows heretofore is believed to obvious;

. nearer In turning a corner the frontframe will be I I swungtothe position shown-in Fig. 3, and

the rear framewill thereby be drawn 1n its wake along the arc of a circle, and the rear disks will follow the paths of. the front disks justas evenly as when working in a straight line. Corners willthusbe double disked in the same manner asp-stralght paths, and ridging. or ditching out of the soil will be prevented. I

It is obvious that there is a strong downward thrust on the part of the rear frame on-account ofthe resistance of the ground pulling the disks rearwardly. llt would be detrimental to have this strain fall'upon the pivot links 29, and I have, therefore, pro vided extensions 31 secured to the rear end of the front frame and projecting rearwardly beneath therear frame. The strains pivot links are left free to move readily and the likelihood of the links buckling downward is eliminated. nect the outer ends of the rear disk gangs The means for adjusting the anglesof the gangs, as stated before, comprises the bail members19 and 27 in cooperationjwith the adjustable links 21 and 27?." The levers which have heretofore been supplied for this purpose are dispensed with and. the

1 gangs are thereby made independently and of the other on a transverse line, and there by I am enabled to arrange the rear gangs separately adjustable, it being possible in this manner to obtain a finer adjustment 1 than where the gangs are adjustedin pairs. tain inboth cases the same angle with; the

With this arrangement also I an! enabled to locatethe pivot points for'the'gangs well toward their inner ends and thereby the blocks are'adjustable in a fore and aft direction so that the gangs may be overlapped .at their inner ends and still maintain a common angle; or, if desired, the bearings may be moved to position where they are in transverse alinement and gangs employed which meet at a common point attheir inner ends,in which case a cruciform arrangement of. all of the gangs may be obtained.

It is not a desirable thing, having once fixed the angles of the disks where they Work to advantage and properly trail, to destr'oy this adjustment; but this. has been necessary heretofore inorder to transport the harrow. To overcome this I have prolee vided transport" trucks for the barrow com- .prising caster wheels 32 arranged one on each-sideof the front frame at the rear 1 thereofyand one at the central portion of the rear end of the rear frame. These wheels have each an upwardly extending shaft 33 carried in a bearing 34, which bearings, in the case of the front wheels, are arranged between the spaced bars 13. A lever 35 is connected by pivot links to the upper end of each of the shafts 33 and extends forwardly a considerable distance so that an operator near the front end of the machine (or where the harrow is used with a tractor, in the cab) may have ready access thereto. A sector 36 formed on a bracket 37, which provides a fulcrum for the lever 35, cooperates with detent mechanism 38 to hold a wheel in the desired position. It will be seen that the caster wheels as arranged may be used also to gage the depth of the disk, but are particularly useful for transporting the harrow from place to place with the disks elevated out of contact with the ground. When so transported it'is obviously unnecessary to move the gang members to transverse position, and their angular adjustment may, therefore, be left intact. Another advantage peculiar to this form of harrow is that the bail members may readily be detached from the frames, and the gangs swung entirely around on their pivots to positions parallel with the line of draft. No'parts are thus left projecting from the sides of the frames and the harrow may be transported along narrow roads and "through narrow g'ates without interference. While I have shown and described buta sin le form of my invention, it is ,to be un erstood, nevertheless, that it is susceptible of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement of the several parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a harrow, front and rear frames carrying disk gangs, a flexible connecting element between the frames, and means carried by the front frame for relieving the downward thrust of the rear frame from the connecting element.

2. In a harrow, front and rear frames carrying disk gangs, connecting elements pivoted to said frames at either end, and means on said from frame for relievin the downward thrust of the rear frame from the connecting elements.

3. In a disk harrow, front and rear frames,

a connecting element between said frames to allow a flexing movement of the frames, and means to receive the down thrust of the rear frame and relieve the strain from the connecting element.

4. In a disk harrow, front and rear frames carrying disk gangs, cross links between said frames and pivoted thereto, and means to relieve the downward" thrust of the rear frame from the cross links.

5. In a harrow, a frame, disk gangs pivoted thereon, connections between each of the gangs and frame including independently adjustable bails and links, transport wheels carried by said frame, and levers for raising and lowering said wheels.

6. In a tandem harrow, connected front and rear main frames, disk gangs pivoted on said frames near their ends, bail members on the ends of said gangs opposite their pivot points, link members cooperating with said bail members and being operatively connected with the gangs and adjacent main frame, transport wheels carried by said frame, and means for raising and lowering said Wheels.

7. In a harrow, a frame having side members, disk gangs pivoted thereon, bail members carried on opposite ends of said gangs, and links cooperating with the bail members and operatively connected between the gangs and the side members of said frame.

8. In a harrow, a frame, transversely arranged disk gangs pivoted thereon near their ends, said pivotal points being arranged out of. transverse alinement, the inner ends of said gangs overlapping, bail members carried on the outer ends of said gangs, and links cooperating with said bail members and being operatively con nected between the gangs and the frame.

9. In a tandem harrow, operatively connected front and rear main frames, said front frame including transversel extending spaced members, said rear rame in- 100 eluding fore and aft spaced members arranged on opposite sides of the central draft line, and disk gang members supported between said spaced members.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signa- 105 ture', in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES S. SHARP.

Witnesses:

F. M. MoRToN, C. E. Rose. 

